The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) is an internationally accepted statistical standard and framework that integrates environmental and economic data to provide a comprehensive view of the interrelationships between the economy and the environment. Work on the SEEA began in the 1980s, with an interim version released in 1993, to solve the problem of not internalizing natural resource depletion and degradation into traditional macroeconomic accounting.
The framework is a "satellite system" to the System of National Accounts (SNA), using consistent concepts and classifications to ensure environmental statistics can be compared directly with economic statistics. It is developed under the patronage of the United Nations, the IMF, and the World Bank Group.
The SEEA is comprised of two main parts. The SEEA Central Framework (SEEA CF) was adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) at its 43rd Session in 2012 as the first international standard. It focuses on individual environmental assets, such as water, minerals, and timber, and the physical and monetary flows between the environment and the economy, like energy use and emissions. The SEEA Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) was adopted by the UNSC in March 2021 at its 52nd session, complementing the SEEA CF. The SEEA EA expands the scope to focus on ecosystems, measuring ecosystem services, and tracking changes in ecosystem assets in a spatially explicit way. The SEEA informs global reporting frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Recently, the UNSC endorsed a proposed update of the SEEA Central Framework in 2024 (Decision 55/109(a)).